Omaha daily bee., 1887-05-12
DARING DIAMOND DEALING.
How an Expert American Crook Made Big
Haul Of Jewels.
TREACHEROUS TABLES TALE
Pie-Shaped and Pieccmeal - An
Unique Furniture Article-One
ofth Most Clever Thefts
OF the Age.

LONDON, Jan. 22.-[Correspondenc
San Francisco Chronicle. The latter
part of last May witnessed the arrival of
an American gentleman at n well known
private hotel in London, one of the houses
which appeal only TO the patronage of
those who are not compelled to count the
cost of their accommodations He Sc.
cured bedroom and sitting-room on the
third floor. He was an old man and his
health so precarlous that he spent most
OF his time indoors, leaving the house
only on the warm, clear days which are
SO infrequent during the early part of
May in London. After he had been there
a few days the lady who had occupied
the suit of rooms Immediately beneath
his, left for the continent, and thelAmeri.
can engaged these for friend of his then
on the way to London. The friend ar.
rived and two highly respectable Amer.
can gentlemen were now installed one
over the other. The first arrival-say
Mr.. A.-lcft considerable sum of money
in English bank notes in the care OF the
manager of the hotel In the course of
some casual conversation with the mana
ger he subsequently gave the latter to un-
derstand that he was a Chicago railway
man of great wealth. The manager had
every reason to believe him, for MIR. A.,
so far from trying to obtain excessive
credit mt the hotel, or to cash drafts on
Chicago. had deposited quantity of
ready money in the safe and paid his bills
each week without even drawing on this
fund. In due course the manager learned
that Mr.. AS daughter was about to be
married and Mr.. A. consulted him rs to
where he should go to buy her u suili-
cienty valuable set of diamonds to be
worn by a rich mans daughter who was
marrying another rich man.
THE MANAGERS COUGH.
The manager, with his fat commission
in view, arranged to go with Mr.. A. to
one of the largest jewelers. in Bond street,
and assist him in selecting the stones. He
was himself. he said, a cOnnoisseur, and
Mr.. A. admitted that he knew very little
about diamonds and that his eyesight was
impaired. AS luck would have it, MIR.
A.. cough grew worse daily, and the
time approached when he wanted to dis
patch the stones to Chicago without his
having been able to 90 to Bond street.
The manager yenturcd dcferentially to
remind him of this, and Mr.. A. said that
he had about made up his mind to let his
business correspondent in New York buy
the stones at Tifiany's, even if they were
be in London. The manager saw that
little commission of his receding toward
the conveyance of the lines OF perspec.
tive, and proposed to Mr.. A. that the man
in Bond street should send round some
stones for him to look at. MIR. At ex-
pressed doubt as to whether the man
would be disposed to send round large
Of 1lt, E,o ,rnnIs
The manager said there would be no
trouble about that, and he himself went
round to see the jeweler, made an ar
rangement about the percentage, which
was satisfactory to both parties; and the
jeweler promised not only to send around
the best sets he had, but likewise to get
larger assortment on approval from the
diamond brokers according to their usual
practice and submit those also.
II should be noted here that MIR. A. had
told the manager that he did not care so
much for enormously large stones as for
stones of great brilliancy real old Bra
lillian and Indian diamonds. His inten
ton was to let his daughter have them
set in such forms as she might herself
prefer, unless, indeed, the jeweler should
happen to have something very striking
IN the way of hair ornaments, bracelets
or necklaces, already set.
THE LEATHER DAY.
The man OF Bond street was a good,
t3ld-fashioned, conservative West-end
tradesman, and when he saw what an
enormous sum the assortment of jewels
which were gong to the hotel aggre-
gated, instead of sending. man round
with them, he went himself accompanied
by n porter. who carried the leather bag
containing the stones, and who was more
as matter of habit than because any
special precaution seemed necessary,
armed with one of those fearful and
wonderful English revolvers, which are
about as convenient to carry as an eighty
ton gun, and take about as long to cock
and fire. 1t was, indeed, more because
the jeweler wanted to conduct the nego
tiation in person and use his own judg-
mcnt as to how stiffa price he could in
sist upon than because he had any mis-
givings about the good faith of the pur.
chaser that he went to the hotel himself.
Arriving there the manager accom- |
panied MIN and his porter to MIR: AS
fore the fire. The jeweler unlocked the
bag which was chained around the por-
ter's waist, and the manager removed a |
number of books and papers from q table |
which stood by the sofa. On the table |
the jeweler arranged tempting display
of set and unset stones, worth in tho ag-
gregate, at his prices, some flS,0OO. of |
which he hoped to be able to sell about
one-fourth, Judging from the way in |
which the manager had spoken Of his
customer.
Now, what was the position OF affairs? |
Around tie table were the ieweler HIM
SELF bis armed porter, and the manager |
of the hotel, a man of unimpeacllable in |
tegfity. ASIDE from the presumption |
that Mr.. A.was most highly respectable |
individual, which in this case seemed to /
amount to moral certainty, he was q
weak man, attenuated by long illness, |
about which there could be no deception. |
The odds were, in reality, far more than |
three to one; and pull at the bell would |
have made them more than that. The
jeweler pointed to the various sets and
stones, stating their weight, character
and price and, IN the instance of one
superb necklace, telling Mr.. A. II curious
history of the great nobleman who had
been trecent.y obliged to dispose of
1t among his family Jewels Mr.. A. lis.
tened with great interest. and then SAID:
1T must be "A nervous sort of business
handling these things. l should be afraid
that the devil would fly away with them.
/ thnk!'
Tho jeweler smilingly assured him that
he did not worry very much about that,